This week's new recipe is a delicious and super easy one-bowl no-fuss pear, dark chocolate, and caramelised pecan cake. A must-try!
The olive oil keeps this cake light and moist, and the caramelised pecan topping is a small (easy) extra step when prepping but adds the most delicious flavour and texture (it's so good).
For the best results use firm, barely ripe pears that will keep their shape when added to the batter mixture. This will prevent a mushy pear texture within the cake.
For a gluten-free option use a gluten-free baking blend flour that can be used in a 1:1 ratio to plain/all-purpose flour.
This cake is delicious served at any time, warm from the oven, at room temperature, or cold the next day.
For this recipe, I partnered with the guys from Kave Home who recently sent me some of their beautiful dinnerware including the 'Roperta' collection featured in the video and images (I especially love the deep bowls in this set). For anyone interested, they have created an exclusive 15% off discount code - just use 'KAVEFEAST15' at checkout on their website.
As always, please let me know if you make the recipe @gatherandfeast, and feel free to ask any questions. Enjoy!
Ingredients
DF, GF options 
1 hour 5 minutes cooking time + cooling time 
12 Cake
- 250ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup raw cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups plain all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 firm pears, cored and cut into small 1cm pieces
- 150g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Caramelised Pecan Topping
- 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of flakey sea salt
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (fan forced oven).
- Grease and line a 23cm/9inch round springform cake tin then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the olive oil and sugar.
- Add the vanilla, eggs, and cinnamon, and whisk well to combine.
- Now add the flour, baking powder, bi-carb soda, and salt, and fold together until almost combined.
- Add the chopped pears and dark chocolate and fold together to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, olive oil, and salt.
- Mix well and then sprinkle over the cake batter.
- Bake the cake at 180°C/350°F for 1 hour and 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the tin.
- Serve warm, at room temperature, or store the cake in the fridge and serve cold.
Notes: For a gluten-free option use a gluten-free baking blend flour that can be used in a 1:1 ratio to plain/all-purpose flour.
